Law firms of the Netherlands

In 2019, the top 50 Dutch law firms (Dutch: advocatenkantoren) had around 4,476 attorneys (Dutch: advocaten)[1] and the top 30 law firms had around 183 notaries (Dutch: notarissen) and 527 candidate notaries.[2] According to the Chambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Houthoff, Loyens & Loeff and Stibbe.[3][4][5][6][7]

Structure

Law firms in the Netherlands are often organised as a partnership, private limited liability company (B.V. or Dutch: besloten vennootschap), public company (N.V. or Dutch: naamloze vennootschap)) or cooperative. It is common for a law firm to have notaries attached to it.

Law firms of the Netherlands

Largest Law Firms

Attorneys

A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 100 attorneys in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below.

Name Date Founded Attorneys[9] Revenue (€ million)(Note 1)[10]
AKD 1903[11] 196 84,19
Allen & Overy Netherlands(Note 2) 1854(Note 3)[12] 169 (Note 4)
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek(Note 5) 1871[13] 298 167,70
Dirkzwager 104 41,76
DLA Piper Netherlands 115 55,22
Clifford Chance Netherlands 1972[14] 126 (Note 6)
CMS Netherlands 115 46,99
Houthoff 245 123,80
EY HVG Law 124 45,01(Note 7)
Kennedy Van der Laan 2006[15] 102 26,23
Loyens & Loeff(Note 2) 2000[16] 255 343,90
NautaDutilh 1724[17] 266 175,20
Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn 1969[18] 151 54,63
Stibbe(Note 8) 1911[19] 193 101,21
Van Doorne 1930[20] 153 59,06

Notes:

(1) 2019/2020, including notarial revenue.

(2) In 1991, Benelux law firm, Loeff Claeys Verbeke, formed a tripartite alliance with Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy and French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel. Allen & Overy and Gide Loyrette Nouel terminated their alliance in 1998.[21] After it was unable to agree on a full merger with Allen & Overy, in 2000, a third of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg offices of Loeff Claeys Verbeke merged with Allen & Overy to form Allen & Overy Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, a third merged with tax advisers Loyens & Volkmaars to form Loyens & Loeff and a third left the firm. At its height, Loeff Claeys Verbeke had more than 500 attorneys and notaries.[22][23]

(3) Allen & Overy was founded in the City of London on 1 January 1930.[24][25]

(4) Allen & Overy does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/20 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,69 billion.[26]

(5) In 1998. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and three other European law firms entered into an alliance with Linklaters to form Linklaters & Alliance.[27] In 2002, it terminated that alliance, choosing not to merge with Linklaters.[28] It has since entered into a "best friends" alliance with BonelliErede (Italy), Bredin Prat (France), Hengeler Mueller (Germany), Slaughter and May (UK) and Uría Menéndez (Spain).[29]

(6) Clifford Chance does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/2020 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,8 billion.[30]

(7) 2018/2019.[31]

(8) In 2002, Silver Circle law firm Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills) (UK), Gleiss Lutz (Germany) and Stibbe formed a tripartite alliance.[32] In November 2011, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe voted against a merger with Herbert Smith.[33] That alliance subsequently ended on 31 December 2011.[34]

Notaries

A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 20 notaries and candidate notaries in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below.[35]

Name Notaries Candidate Notaries
Actus Notarissen 11 11
Allen & Overy Netherlands 3 18
Baker McKenzie Netherlands 2 18
Daamen De Kort van Tuijl 10 12
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek 4 28
Dirkzwager 8 13
Houthoff 5 43
Hermans & Schuttevaer 9 17
Het Notarieel 12 18
Hoekstra & Partners 9 14
Loyens & Loeff 10 61
NautaDutilh 9 39
Trip 5 15
Van Doorne 9 17
VBC Notarissen 6 18

Rankings

Chambers and Partners rankings of the number of speciality areas in each law firm recognised as leading in the Netherlands in 2020. In the Netherlands, Chambers and Partners ranks law firms in bands from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest). Being ranked in any band is an achievement.[36] This list is non-exhaustive.

Rank Name Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4
1 Allen & Overy Netherlands[37] 12 6 4 1
2 De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek[38] 11 6 2 None
3 Stibbe[39] 8 7 3 1
4 Loyens & Loeff[40] 8 4 3 1
5 Houthoff[41] 7 4 9 None
NautaDutilh[42] 5 11 3 None
Clifford Chance Netherlands[43] 4 7 3 1
AKD[44] 4 2 3 2
Van Doorne[45] 4 1 4 3
Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn[46] 3 3 1 1
Stek[47] 2 1 2 1
Linklaters Netherlands[48] 2 None 2 3
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Netherlands[49] 1 5 3 2
DLA Piper Netherlands[50] 1 1 6 1
Lexence[51] 1 None 2 1
Simmons & Simmons Netherlands[52] None 4 1 3
Jones Day Netherlands[53] None 3 1 1
Baker McKenzie Netherlands[54] None 2 3 1
CMS Netherlands[55] None 1 2 3
deBreij[56] None 1 None None
Kennedy Van der Laan[57] None None None 1
EY HVG Law[58] None None None None

Associate remuneration

In 2019, the average gross annual salary for associates at Dutch law firms ranged between:

  • €45,000 and €80,000 for one to four years' experience;
  • €70,000 and €105,000 for four to seven years' experience; and
  • €95,000 and €150,000 for more than seven years' experience.[59]

References
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  2. Advocatie Advocatuur Top 50 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/advocatuur-top-50-2020/
  3. Chambers & Partners Allen & Overy Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/allen-overy-llp-europe-7:7
  4. Chambers & Partners De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/de-brauw-blackstone-westbroek-europe-7:3861
  5. Chambers & Partners Stibbe Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/stibbe-europe-7:3874
  6. Chambers & Partners Loyens & Loeff Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/loyens-loeff-europe-7:64329
  7. Chambers & Partners Houthoff Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/houthoff-europe-7:3865
  8. Apollo House Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.apollo-house.com/
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  10. Advocatie Omzetten top 50-kantoren 2019: grote sprong Dirkzwager, zorgen voor 2020Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/business/omzetten-top-50-kantoren-2019-grote-sprong-dirkzwager-zorgen-voor-2020/
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  22. Journal, Konstantin Richter Staff Reporter of The Wall Street. "Allen & Overy Takes on 140 Lawyers From Belgium's Loeff Claeys Verbeke".
  23. NRC Handelblad Advocatenkantoor Loeff valt uit elkaar na 'fusie' 13 July 1999 https://retro.nrc.nl/W2/Nieuws/1999/07/13/Vp/08.html
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  51. Chambers & Partners Lexence Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/lexence-europe-7:113028
  52. Chambers & Partners Simmons & Simmons Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/simmons-simmons-llp-europe-7:383
  53. Chambers & Partners Jones Day Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/jones-day-europe-7:8429
  54. Chambers & Partners Baker McKenzie Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/baker-mckenzie-europe-7:2692
  55. Chambers & Partners CMS Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/cms-europe-7:7489
  56. Chambers & Partners deBreij Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/debreij-europe-7:22404228
  57. Chambers & Partners Kennedy Van der Laan Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/kennedy-van-der-laan-global-2:3866
  58. Chambers & Partners HVG Law Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/hvg-law-llp-europe-7:140562
  59. Statista Annual salary of associates working in the Dutch legal firms in the Netherlands in 2019, by years of experience Accessed 3 August 2020 https://www.statista.com/statistics/561787/dutch-law-firm-associate-annual-income-by-experience-netherlands/
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